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Beverly Hills RN Launches New PRP / Injection Training Program
Medical professionals from around the world will have the opportunity to study in Beverly Hills new platelet-rich plasma procedures, and injection techniques including the popular Vampire Facelift procedure.
Beverly Hills RN, led by internationally known trainers and Registered Nurses Sylvia Silvestri, launched a new training program that includes PRP and injection techniques. The two-day training program will begin in January.
Beverly Hills RN Launches New PRP / Injection Training Program
Participants will receive comprehensive training and certification in the latest non-surgical treatments used for aesthetics and sexual health. The first day of training on January 20th will include popular PRP procedures such as Facial Vampire, O-Shot, P-Shot, the Vampire Breast Lift and the Vampire Hair Rejuvenation. The second day on January 21 includes facial injection procedures such as Botox, Dermal Fillers and Microneedling.
Additional sessions will be held each month on the following weekend: 10 and 11 February, 10 and 11 March, 14 and 15 April, 12 and 13 May, and 9 and 10 June.
The PRP procedure, which uses the patient's own blood to heal, regenerate tissue and build collagen, continues to gain popularity thanks to celebrities who join others who have used it. Doctors attending the Beverly Hills RN two-day workshop will receive hands-on clinical skills experience in popular techniques and trademark certification from Dr. Charles Runels, inventor of the Vamp's PRP procedure. Beverly Hills RN Launches New PRP / Injection Training Program
Beverly Hills RN also offers a one-day class and full on-site training.
Silvestri, trained at Loma Linda University, has worked exclusively in Beverly Hills for 20 years. He has worked in the busiest and most exclusive operating room and recovery facility throughout the Los Angeles area and with prominent physicians. Beverly Hills RN Launches New PRP / Injection Training Program
He is now training doctors and nurses in Beverly Hills and the rest of the world how to effectively manage toxins and facial shots.

subset: commoncrawl


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Yevgeny Zamyatin
About the Author
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937) was a naval architect by profession and a writer by nature. His favorite idea was the absolute freedom of the human personality to create, to imagine, to love, to make mistakes, and to change the world. This made him a highly inconvenient citizen of two despotisms, the tsarist and the Communist, both of which exiled him, the first for a year, the latter forever. He wrote short stories, plays, and essays, but his masterpiece is We, written in 1920-21 and soon thereafter translated into most of the languages of the world. It first appeared in Russia only in 1988. It is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-utopia; a great prose poem on the fate that might befall all of us if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom. George Orwell, the author of 1984, acknowledged his debt to Zamyatin. The other great English dystopia of our time, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, was evidently written out of the same impulse, though without direct knowledge of Zamyatin's We.


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Chap. (1st Lt.) Christopher Mohr swore the Oath of Membership in the United States Corps of Chaplains in front of the red arrow of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team during the brigades annual training at Fort McCoy.
Mohr joins the 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion to serve as the units adviser to the battalion commander and provide morale, morals and ethics support to the soldiers.
He explained Buddhist teachings such as mindfulness, equanimity and service to others helped him in his personal life and how he interacts with other people.
These things have been very useful to me in making sure that I can be a person who is of benefit to others and a person who can work with others to make sure that everybodys needs, as best I can, be met, said Mohr.
During his first two-weeks as a Buddhist chaplain in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, Mohr will hold nightly meditation training with a full-scale Buddhist service once a week.
Chaplain (Col.) Douglas Fleischfresser, the state command chaplain, is excited to have a new religion represented in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
I think it speaks for where were going in diversity and the need to have a diverse viewpoint in spirituality, said Fleischfresser.
Army chaplains, regardless of the faith they represent, provide spiritual, ethical and moral guidance to all soldiers in need of assistance.
I think the chaplains are such a critical part of the unit, said Maj. John Reiter, 32nd BTSB commander. They are responsible for the [spiritual] care of the soldiers. With the emphasis on resiliency, its critical to the health of the battalion.
Mohr became a Buddhist reverend after receiving his master of divinity degree from a seminary in California and being ordained into the faith.
Mohrs roles as battalion chaplain are performing Buddhist services and providing opportunities for worship to other religions. There are approximately 30 soldiers who have identified themselves as Buddhists with others showing interest in the faith, said Fleischfresser.


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The site is now updated for Damage 2.0!
The damage/level table has been replaced with the damage to specific enemy types (Ancient Disruptor, Grineer Napalm, Corpus Tech, and Corpus Moa), mouseovering the specific enemy type shows the vulnerabilities.
You can now also sort weapons based on damage to the enemy types (Ancient, Napalm, etc.).
Mouseovering the weapon stats table shows the original stats (for comparisons).
Not a big update feature-wise, but a ton of testing in-game and in the code. Next update will probably be about adding sentinel weapons, the one after that will likely be fixing page load times, and then perhaps adding more details in tooltips (any ideas are welcome).
Original post:
I've been using a spreadsheet to get a feel for how weapons perform, and how mods affect DPS. But it started becoming a bit of a pain to update/change mods around, and it felt kind of limited. So I tried to fix some stuff through scripting instead, using javascript and a regular web page (no downloading needed), and I thought you guys might get some use out of it too! Check it out (not sure if/how linking works on the forums):
Crash course in current features:
You select the pistol/rifle/etc. category you want at the top, to compare different types of weapons click "add favorite" and it'll get added on top of the other weapons (it remembers "favorites" through cookies, so it should get saved. As long as you stay on the same computer).
Increase/decrease aura/mod levels by using the + / - signs before the mod name. You can max or disable a mod completely by clicking the counter in the middle (for example the "10/10" for hornet strike on Acrid). A mod with a "-/5" as a counter is disabled, a mod with "0/5" is just the base card with no ranks added.
Mouse over the name of the mod to get a tooltip with what stats it increases.
The auras count up to 5, then start over from zero, so you can see how it stacks with more people. The number in parenthesis beside the counter (for example 5/5 (1) corrosive projection) represents how many players are need to get that high a percentage.
The DPS number to the right of the weapon name (for example "Acrid 6005") is the raw DPS value before armor is taken into account. The DPS with armor values is in the table just below and to the right of the name, it lists damage to Ancient Disruptors, Grineer Napalms, and Corpus Techs, levels 5 through 200. This damage does not account for hitting weak spots, but it does factor elemental weaknesses (fire/lightning/etc.) and armor ignore damage (armor piercing, serrated blade, poison, etc.).
You can sort the lists by clicking the names/arrows beside the category name, clicking name will sort by name, clicking it again will reverse the order. DPS means unmmitigated damage (doesn't factor armor), and APDPS means the damage after armor has been accounted for (using a lvl 200 Ancient Disruptor as base).
The "filter name" search box below favorites filters names, typing in "a" will show all weapon names that contains that letter (it's not case sensitive).
There's a ton of things left to work on:
There are no melee weapons currently (the swing mechanics seemed a bit complex).
The continuous (e.g flux rifle) and charge weapons (e.g Paris) just ignore weapon speed mods at the moment, which might not be accurate.
All stats have been entered by hand, so I can almost guarantee that there are typos or swapped stats.
I have checked the formulas and calculated some stats by hand, but there's still a few possible places where small errors might have snuck in.
Some special behaviors might not be modeled correctly, Acrid's DOT, Ogris explosion, Torid poison Cloud.
I haven't figured out a good way to represent the impact of recoil/spread. This might make some weapons seem very good on paper while in reality they might be horrible.
And some design limitations:
It's single target only.
It doesn't account for you being in a group. If you have a nova (2x damage from molecular prime), a Rhino (+50% damage shout), a Banshee with sonar (500% or more to sonar weak spot), and you're shooting a Moa in it's weak spot (fanny pack, 3x damage) with your synapse (electricity 2x damage) through your Volt shield (red crits), will do significantly more DPS than what's listed.
It's based on average DPS for emptying a clip and reloading. Burst DPS on some weapons will be higher, and this doesn't account for damage against shields. This misses things like that freezing damage might be better in some cases, or that you might attack a boss and then reload when he's invulnerable (e,g Vor, the burst DPS might be more important in some cases).
I tested in the latest versions of Chrome/Firefox/IE, I have no idea how good it'll work in anything other than those.
The javascript source is uglified, regular source code can be found on github:
Some caveats on the code; It's almost completely uncommented and it's the very first iteration of a prototype.
Edited by Gogge


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There's no getting cold feet now. On Friday, Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's device business became official, after months of delays and regulatory hurdles. The remnants of Nokia will get a whopping $7.2 billion. In return, Microsoft will get 32,000 new employees, a legion of Lumias, and oh yeah, those funky Android-based Nokia X phones.
So what?
Sure, Microsoft and Nokia each stand to gain (or lose) billions from the deal. But why does that matter to you? What should you and I hope to see from the Microkia conglomerate, in terms of Windows Phones and devices that we can actually touch and hold and feel? I'm glad you asked.
More, and more polished, Windows Phones?
Let's get this out of the way: Windows Phone has an adoption problem. And since Nokia controls a stunning 93 percent of the Windows Phone market, that means Nokia has an adoption problem, too.
And to be frank, that's not much of a surprise. While it's always been slick-looking, Windows Phone has nevertheless felt half-baked compared to Android and iOS. Users largely steered clear, which made it even easier for most manufacturers to do the same. Microsoft made the phone makers' decision all the easier because of its insistence on charging for a Windows Phone license. Meanwhile, Google gave away Android--an operating system that people actually wanted--for free.
The acquisition changes everything, though.
While Microsoft was always motivated to make Windows Phone a success from a high-level ecosystem perspective, it now has $7.2 billion reasons to make damn sure that Nokia's phones actually sell now, too. Surprise! Since the Nokia merger was announced, Microsoft's rolled out Windows Phone 8.1, a sweeping update that finally achieves feature parity with iOS and Android and finally gives Nokia's beautiful hardware a software backbone that's just as alluring.
Mere moments after announcing Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft also announced that Windows Phone licenses will be free for all handset makers, in a bid to quell Nokia's uneasy competitors. Considering that most manufacturers pay Microsoft a license fee when they sell an Android handset, rolling out a Windows Phone may be cheaper than using a supposedly "free" Android license--which would only encourage phone makers to pump out more Windows Phones, especially in developing countries where cost is a concern.
More and better Windows Phone apps?
Nokia's been at the forefront of pushing developers to create Windows Phone apps--perhaps with even more success than Microsoft's own efforts--and has developed several top-notch Windows Phone apps of their own, such as Nokia MixRadio, various Nokia Camera apps, the augmented reality City Lens, and more.
By this point, the Windows Phone Store will likely never catch up to the sheer app numbers of the Play or App Stores, even with the new "buy once, play on any device" universal app push. But many of the biggest-name apps are already appearing on Windows Phone, thanks partly to Nokia's constant prodding.
Now that Microsoft needs to sell some phones--and perhaps now that Nokia's marketing and outreach team has access to Microsoft's vast war chest--the drive to stock the app store could intensify, especially with Windows Phone starting to grow nicely in developing markets.
And if more of the slickly designed Lumia apps started meandering into the Windows Phone store after an exclusive delay of a few months, well, that'd be a fine development, too.
A more integrated Windows Phone experience?
By controlling the software and the hardware of the vast majority of Windows Phones, Microsoft can now create a more tailored, integrated experience for mobile users--think Google's Nexus devices or Apple's iPhone, or a smaller version of Microsoft's own Surface tablet.
While Microsoft still needs to cater to the needs of other Windows Phone manufacturers, Microsoft now has a template for designing its own Windows Phones. For example, the Lumia line's excellent cameras are a key advantage over rival phones. Windows Phone could be fine-tuned to make photo editing and sharing even more seamless than it is now, to play to that strength. PureView everywhere!
But let's get speculative. Between the widespread shift to the Metro UI and the newly introduced universal apps endeavor, Microsoft is already nearing the "Windows Everywhere" experience it so desperately wants to attain. Given that, perhaps Microsoft will start adding more photo-enhancement tools to Windows itself--or maybe even the Xbox--to play to Nokia's strengths. It would be great to snap a picture with your Lumia and, aided by OneDrive, turn that image into the background for your Xbox or Windows setup.
Better all-around design from Microsoft
All that app and experience talk segues nicely into the next thing we could see. Microsoft needs to work on its design. Nokia can help.
Yes, the Surface tablets--like Microsoft's vast array of PC peripherals--are finely constructed pieces of hardware, despite being somewhat thick. But geez, they're cold: stark, sleek testaments to Windows 8's inherent possibilities, hewn from a slab of impersonal VaporMg. Even worse, disastrous software updates for those very tablets were pushed out before the holidays, sapping their battery life. And, well, the less said about Windows 8's UI, the better. (Though it is improving, slowly but surely.)
Contrast that to Nokia's wares: Every Lumia phone is an aesthetic marvel, and its apps are just as thoughtful. This company just plain gets everyday users. It'd be utterly magnificent if some of Nokia's famous Finnish attention to detail seeped into the rest of Microsoft--and utterly tragic if Nokia's designers lost their flair for the fantastic after being consumed by Microsoft.
If you want to hear more about the topic, be sure to check out Mark Hachman's take on How to make Microsoft great again, one Nokia phone at a time. It's righteous.
Fewer hardware mishaps from Microsoft
Nokia's supply chain management is a force to be reckoned with, honed by decades of experience in pumping out hardware. Microsoft's been hawking Surface tablets for less than two years, and often overproducing or underproducing the slates in that time frame. Nokia's vendor gurus could help even out the supply side of the Surface's supply-and-demand equation.
A stay of execution for the Nokia X
At first blush, the Nokia X's very existence seems to scream "KILL ME, KILL ME NOW" with the company in Microsoft's hands. It is running Android, after all. Sacrilege!
But maybe it isn't. Remember: Microsoft has reimagined itself as a device and services company now. The Nokia X is an affordable device with mass appeal, and it just so happens to be chock-full of Microsoftian services like Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive, rather than the usual Google apps. The low-cost line could be used to replace Nokia's aging Asha OS with something that spurs widespread Microsoft service adoption in developing countries and offers an easy migration path to full-fledged Windows Phones down the line.
Yes, Nokia's fake Windows Phone could bolster the real one. While Microsoft hasn't exactly been enthusiastic about the Nokia X, it hasn't been belligerent either. Microsoft VP of corporate communications Frank Shaw went so far as to state that "this provides the opportunity to bring millions of people, particularly in growth markets, into the Microsoft family" via the bundled services.
Expect Microsoft to tolerate the Nokia X's existence... for now.
Nothing new whatsoever?
Yes, nothing at all. Stay the course, carry on, nothing to see here, folks.
Why would Microsoft spend a ludicrous $7.2 billion on Nokia to invoke no changes at all? Because perhaps Nokia wasn't a strategic acquisition, or a necessary investment in a grand unified hardware plan.Maybe it was a desperate move.
Remember, Windows Phone has had trouble wooing new users into the fold. Just before Microsoft announced the acquisition, Nokia was hemorrhaging cash and market share despite controlling such a big slice of the Windows Phone market. Rumors of a Nokian defection to Android were swirling on a daily basis (and soon proven true with the Nokia X). With its back against the wall and its staunchest ally making eyes at the competition, Microsoft's then-CEO Steve Ballmer might have felt forced to act, lest Microsoft lose control of the Windows Phone story entirely.
The Nokia purchase certainly seemed to have occurred out of the blue, shortly after Microsoft announced a sweeping reorganization and Ballmer himself announced his retirement. Engulfing Nokia's 32,000-strong workforce into the Microsoft ranks is a mighty big thing to dump onto the shoulders of new CEO Satya Nadella--unless it absolutely, positively had to happen.
Hey, I'm not saying that's what did happen, but it's possible.
In any case, here's to a long and fruitful union: The marriage of Cortana and alluring Nokia phones like the Lumia Icon could be a legendary one indeed--if Microkia plays its cards right.


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Chrome: Chrome's default new tab page is handy resource for your most clicked links, but not everyone needs it. If you're looking for something a little different, Currently is an extension that adds a simple, but useful weather forecast to Chrome's new tab page.
Currently gives you a four-day weather forecast and the time. It doesn't have any hourly breakdowns, radar, or fancy features, but its minimal design means it opens immediately. If you find yourself needing access to your most visited links or apps, you can click the small tile icon in the corner of Currently to return to the default page.
Currently | Chrome Web Store


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Health and Travel Alert – U.S. Mission Russia (May 18, 2020)
Location: Russia, country-wide
Event: Upcoming Aeroflot flight to New York
Tickets are now on sale on Aeroflot's website for a flight from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO) to New York, JFK on Saturday, May 23, departing at 14:15.
Please note that the Embassy is not creating lists of potential passengers, nor are we involved in the selection or ticketing of passengers for Aeroflot flights. We understand that Aeroflot customer service sometimes mistakenly refers customers to the Embassy. Please contact Aeroflot directly to book this flight.
We do not have plans to organize additional charter flights at this time. We encourage all U.S. citizens who wish to return to the United States to take advantage of Aeroflot's limited commercial flights.
Important information for U.S. citizen and legal permanent residents traveling to Moscow in order to depart the Russian Federation via commercial flights:
The Moscow City government implemented an electronic pass system to regulate vehicular travel within and into the city on April 15. The new rules apply to all movements via car, taxi, motorcycle, bicycle, scooter, or any form of public transit. All individuals traveling to or from Moscow airports or railway stations must have a digital pass for the trip. This pass can be applied for via the Moscow City website or text message. Details and instructions on the electronic pass system can be found at the Moscow City electronic pass website (English)/(Russian). The Embassy encourages all travelers to visit the site and read the requirements in full.
Please see the Moscow City government's website on COVID-19 for additional information. If you live in or are visiting a location outside of Moscow, please check with the local government for applicable restrictions and guidelines.
Additional Actions to Take:
- Consult the CDC website for the most up-to-date information.
- For the most recent information on what you can do to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19, please see the CDC's latest recommendations.
- Visit the COVID-19 crisis page on travel.state.gov for the latest information.
- Check with your airlines, cruise lines, or travel operators regarding any updated information about your travel plans and/or restrictions.
- Visit our Embassy webpage on COVID-19 for information on conditions in Russia.
- Visit the Department of Homeland Security's website on the latest travel restrictions to the United States.
- U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia
Bolshoy Deviatinsky Pereulok No. 8
+7 495 728-5000
Website – U.S. Embassy Moscow
- U.S. Consulate General Yekaterinburg
15 Gogol Street
+7 (343) 379-3001
After hours – +7 (917) 569-3549
Website – U.S. Consulate General Yekaterinburg
- U.S. Consular Agency Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Lada Hotel, Suite 210
154 Komsomolskaya Street
+7-4242-42-49-17 (Mondays and Thursdays, 0900-1300)
After hours – +7-914-704-07 62
- State Department – Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 202-501-4444
- Enroll in Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts.


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There are times in the Gemara that laws are derived from Psukim in Nach. They are called "Divrei Kabbalah".
What status do they have (are they considered like Torah Laws or like Rabbinic laws).
For example, when in doubt, can one be lenient (like Rabbinic laws) or must one be stringent (like Torah laws)?


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Altland, James | |
Krause, Charles |
Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2010 Publication Date: 12/21/2010 Citation: Altland, J.E., Krause, C.R. 2010. Modification of switchgrass substrate pH using compost, peatmoss, and elemental sulfur. HortTechnology. 20:950-956. Interpretive Summary: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass currently being developed for its biofuel potential. Our lab has been exploring the possibility of using switchgrass as a raw material for nursery container substrates. One of the problems with switchgrass and other grass-based substrates is that pH of these ground materials is higher than what is typically recommended for nursery crop production (4.5 to 6.5). Substrate pH could be lowered in switchgrass substrates by amending with other physical components that have lower pH (sphagnum peatmoss, for example). It is also possible the addition of organic substrates with high cation exchange capacity, in the form of compost or peatmoss, might reduce and buffer substrate pH over time. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of sphagnum peatmoss, municipal solid waste compost (MSC), and elemental S on pH of substrates comprised primarily of switchgrass and subsequent plant growth. Our approach was to initially use a short-production cycle annual crop (annual vinca) to determine the immediate impacts of the aforementioned amendments, followed by a long-term woody crop (blueberry) to document long-term effects on pH, pH buffering, and plant growth. Peatmoss and MSC decreased substrate pH of switchgrass to a level more conducive to annual vinca production. Elemental S was effective at reducing pH, but rates should be limited to less than 1 lb/yd3 and varied depending on the species being grown and its pH requirement. Combinations of peatmoss and MSC were more effective in buffering pH against changes than either component alone. Plant growth and quality were improved with additions of peatmoss and MSC but negatively affected with higher rates of elemental S (>1 lb/yd3). When using switchgrass substrates, addition of up to 20% peatmoss and 10% MSC is recommended for improving physical properties, moderating and buffering pH, and improving crop growth. Technical Abstract: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) biomass is being evaluated as a potential alternative to pine bark as the primary potting component in containerized nursery crops. Substrates comprised entirely of switchgrass have higher pH than what is considered desirable in container substrates. The objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of elemental sulfur (S), sphagnum peatmoss, and municipal solid waste compost (MSC) as amendments for reducing substrate pH and buffering it against large changes over time. Three experiments were conducted, the first two using annual vinca (Catharanthus roseus 'Pacifica Blush') to quickly assess how pH is affected by the three amendments. The final experiment was conducted with blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke') to assess the long-term effects of substrate amendments. Summarizing across the three experiments, elemental S was effective in reducing substrate pH; however, rates 1 lb/yd3 or greater reduced pH below the recommended level of 5.5 and lower S rates did not maintain lowered pH over time. Sphagnum peatmoss and MSC together at 20% and 10% (v/v) were effective at reducing substrate pH and buffering against change. Sphagnum peatmoss and MSC provided the additional benefit of improving physical properties of the switchgrass substrates. |


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Any Republican governor of a blue state who manages to balance the budget without raising taxes should be a nominee for Mount Rushmore, to say nothing of president.
Mitt Romney was governor of a state so blue, it's North Korea with more Irish people, and he balanced the budget without raising taxes.
Even Ronald Reagan raised taxes as governor of California, imposing a $1 billion tax increase his first year in office. It was the largest tax hike by a governor in the nation's history, raising income, corporate, sales and inheritance taxes. Five years later, Reagan raised taxes again by another $1.5 billion.
To be fair, unlike liberals, he also provided tax rebates that, over his tenure in office, totaled $5.7 billion, including $4 billion in property tax rebates.
But even Reagan didn't stop the growth of state government: While he was governor of California, the budget increased from $4.6 billion to $10.2 billion.
Republicans are able to contextualize Reagan's record — it was California! — but seem unable to contextualize Mitt Romney's record, even though he had to govern a state far more liberal than California was half a century ago.
When Reagan was governor, the California Assembly was majority Democrat, but the Senate was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
Gov. Romney had to contend with a 200-person state Legislature that included only 29 Republicans.
As Reagan tax guru Arthur Laffer has admitted, Reagan's specialty was cutting taxes, not spending. Reagan, he said, found "it hard to say no" and cutting spending is a "green-eyeshade budget thing" that requires poring over budgets, whereas cutting taxes can be done in the abstract.
Romney is a green-eyeshade guy.
Like Reagan, Romney inherited a huge, Democrat-created budget deficit. The existing Massachusetts deficit was already more than half a billion dollars when Romney took office halfway through a fiscal year, with a projected deficit of $3 billion for the following fiscal year.
And yet, Romney balanced Massachusetts' budget each year he was in office and left the state with a surplus, without raising taxes.
To the contrary, every single budget Romney submitted included income tax cuts — all of which were rejected by the 85 percent Democratic Legislature. (The last time Massachusetts legislators approved an income tax cut was when it was attached to a bill raising their own salaries by 55 percent.)
Romney balanced the budget by slashing spending, eliminating ridiculous corporate tax loopholes and increasing user fees for government services consumed by only some citizens, such as court filings, taking the bar exam, boating, hunting and golf licenses.
He cut state spending by $600 million, including reducing his own staff budget by $1.2 million, and hacked the largest government agency, Health and Human Services, down from 13 divisions to four. He did this largely by persuading the Legislature to give him emergency powers his first year in office to cut government programs without their consent.
Although Romney was not able to get any income tax cuts past the Democratic Legislature, he won other tax cuts totaling nearly $400 million, including a one-time capital gains tax rebate and a two-day sales tax holiday for all purchases under $2,500.
He also vetoed more bills than any other governor in Massachusetts history, before or since. He vetoed bills concerning access to birth control, more spending on state zoos and the creation of an Asian-American commission — all of which were reversed by the Legislature.
As Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, said, "What else could he do?"
Romney left his successor, Deval Patrick, Democrat and friend of Obama, with a "rainy day fund" of $2.1 billion, more than tripled from $640 million when Romney took office. (Of course, as soon as Romney was gone, Patrick raided the rainy day fund, increased government spending and raised taxes.)
Meanwhile, when he was in Congress, Santorum wouldn't even vote to eliminate federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Santorum supported all sorts of big-government spending plans — No Child Left Behind, prescription drug coverage for seniors and the "Bridge to Nowhere."
But you'd think we would at least have Santorum's vote against federal funding for pornographers and deviants. Alas, no.
The NEA, you will recall, uses federal taxpayer money to subsidize crucifixes submerged in urine, photos of bullwhips up a man's derriere, poems celebrating the Central Park jogger's rapists, photos of amputated human genitalia, vomit, mutilated corpses and dead fetuses. (And that was just the children's wing of the museum!)
But Rick Santorum voted against cutting funding for the NEA every time a vote was taken both as a representative and a senator — in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1998. These weren't accidental votes. Each one was deemed a key conservative vote on which members of Congress would be graded by the American Conservative Union.
There's your "true conservative," values voters.
Unfortunately, the more time a person spends in Washington, the more likely he is to consider it perfectly reasonable for the federal government to redistribute money from hardworking taxpayers to pornographers, con men, charlatans and thieves.
America is on a precipice. Unless we send Lizzie Borden to Washington next January, our country will begin an inevitable decline into a useless socialist country, with no money for national defense, no entrepreneurship, no new businesses being created, no new pharmaceuticals or cancer cures — just the endless redistribution of an ever-dwindling pool of wealth from the makers to the takers, overseen by career politicians like Rick Santorum.
Mitt Romney has spent no time in Washington. He was a rabidly frugal fiscal conservative in a state where cutting government spending was as foreign an idea as it is in Washington today.
Do you think a man who slashed government spending in North Korea, put the corrupt and financially bleeding Olympics on solid financial footing and rescued dozens of companies from bankruptcy would consider a photo of a bullwhip stuck in a man's buttocks a wise investment of the taxpayers' money?
Ann Coulter is an author and political commentator.


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Eleven weeks before Election Day we can't know who will win the presidency. But we can know with near certainty that voter turnout will be abysmal and that the results will be not so much a mandate as a skewed sampling of about half the electorate.
Many reforms could increase turnout, from same-day registration to voting on weekends. But the most basic is also the most appropriate: making voting mandatory. Here's why.
Mandatory voting would make elections truly valid. "Protecting the integrity of our elections" is the rationale Republicans give for the cynically restrictive voter ID laws they've enacted in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. But if we truly cared about the integrity of elections, we should ensure that they reflect the will of all eligible voters.
(MORE: How to Solve the Voter ID Debate)
Second, as William Galston of the Brookings Institution argues, it would temper the polarization of our politics. In today's electorate, hardcore partisan believers are over-represented; independents and moderates are under-represented. If the full range of voters actually voted, our political leaders, who are exquisitely attuned followers, would go where the votes are: away from the extremes. And they would become more responsive to the younger, poorer and less educated Americans who don't currently vote.
Third, mandatory voting would prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices. Those of us who lament the decline of civic knowledge generally focus on the supply side of the equation: more civics education. A mandate would stimulate the demand side, motivating more voters to learn what they were voting on (just as a draft makes the drafted motivated to learn what they'd fight for).
There are many arguments against mandatory voting; each reflects a lack of faith in democracy itself. One says that increasing the number of uninformed voters will lead to worse policymaking. That presumes, however, that policymaking today sets a high-water mark of enlightenment. It also sets up a viciously antidemocratic circle: if you don't vote you must be stupid and if you are stupid you mustn't vote.
(MORE: Undecided? Election 2012 Is Up to You)
Another critique claims that requiring the vote devalues it, and that compelled voters will protest by voting carelessly. But in Australia, where voting became compulsory in 1924, that's been a marginal issue. The existence of a mandate has made voting a meaningful shared national experience.
Some Republicans will oppose mandatory voting for the reason they now push voter IDs: to win. (Conventional wisdom says the more people who vote, the worse the GOP does). But if a tactic of disenfranchisement and electorate-amputation makes sense for the party (which is debatable), it is terrible for the country. As former director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orzsag has pointed out, we can't know what the ultimate partisan impact would be. One day Republicans could benefit.
The most visceral critique is that mandating voting is just un-American. Yet jury duty, the draft, going to school, and taxpaying all have been compulsory without being called communist (OK, three out of four). At issue is what makes something American — and what makes liberty liberty. The Revolution and the framing of the Constitution were not about the right merely to be let alone or to do whatever one pleased. They were about our liberty to govern and represent ourselves. Core to that liberty is electing representatives and voting on public issues.
That is why the best reason for mandatory voting has nothing to do with today's politics. It's about redeeming the central promise of American citizenship. Generations marched, fought and died for the right to vote. The least we can do now is treat that right like a responsibility.
MORE: Do Attack Ads Work?


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If you want to start a restaurant, there's no better time. The U.S. restaurant industry is thriving, with estimated 2016 sales of $783 billion, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA). The more than 1 million restaurants in the United States account for 10 percent of the nation's overall workforce, and 90 percent of them are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
How can you make your new restaurant stand out from the crowd? Follow these 12 steps.
1. Choose your concept
Within the basic categories of restaurants — fast food or quick-service restaurants, casual restaurants, or fine dining establishments — there are innumerable variations. Your choice of concept will be shaped by your interests, target market and budget, as well as current culinary trends.
Italian is by far the most popular cuisine in the U.S., according to the NRA and Zagat. Close behind are Mexican, Chinese, American, and seafood restaurants. Other popular restaurant trends for 2016, according to the NRA, include locally sourced meats, seafood and produce; natural ingredients and minimally processed food; farm-to-table cuisine; ethnic condiments and spices; sustainable foods, and healthful children's meals.
Not every concept will work in every community. Research your market to determine if there's a demand for the type of restaurant you want to start. If you have your heart set on an upscale French restaurant, but your area is mostly working-class families with young children, for instance, there's probably not a big enough market to support your concept. Also, consider the local competition and what they aren't offering that you could provide.
Your budget restricts your concept to some extent. If you're on a tight budget, consider a limited-service concept, such as a breakfast café open in the mornings and early afternoons, or a sandwich shop open at lunchtime. If you have more capital, you have more options.
2. Research your target market
Carefully research your target market. Ask yourself:
- Who are your desired customers? What are their demographics (household income, disposable income, age, marital status, location, occupation, etc.)?
- Where do they currently go out to eat (in other words, what restaurants are your competitors)? How often do they go out to eat?
- How will you differentiate your business from the restaurants they're currently patronizing?
- What prices are they willing to pay?
- Is there a sufficient customer base to support your concept, both now and in the future?
Free resources for market research include Pew Research Center, American FactFinder, U.S. Census Bureau, and Nielsen MyBestSegments.
3. Plan your restaurant design and layout
Once your concept is established, start planning your restaurant space. In addition to the main dining area, you'll need room for:
- Kitchen/food preparation and staging
- Staff area (for breaks and meals)
- Restrooms
- Waiting area for customers
- Food and beverage storage
- Storage for dishware, silver, linens, etc.
- Bar, if desired
- Outdoor patio, if desired
- If you want to offer takeout, delivery, or curbside pickup, factor in space for those needs, including short-term parking space near the restaurant.
While the majority of your space will be used for the dining area (known as front of house), you also need adequate kitchen and storage space (known as back of house). In general, you'll want to allow about 35 percent of the overall space for kitchen/storage/production. The more efficiently this space is organized, the more room you have for dining. For maximum flexibility, design a dining space you can reconfigure if needed--for instance, by using small tables you can put together to make larger tables.
4. Plan for equipment and supplies
You may need specialized equipment, such as a wood-burning pizza oven, depending on your concept. However, every restaurant needs:
- Refrigeration unit
- Stove/oven/grill
- Dishwasher
- Icemaker
- Cookware/utensils
- Bar equipment (beer taps, refrigerators, ice bins)
- Tables/chairs/booths
- Sound system for music
- Flooring
- Wall decor/window coverings
- Lighting
- Glassware, dishware, silverware, linens (or paper/plastic equivalents for a quick-serve or casual restaurant)
- Staff uniforms
Leasing may make more financial sense than buying, especially if the lease includes maintenance on the equipment. In general, equipment that has a short lifespan or is frequently updated should be leased. You can save big by purchasing used equipment, furniture and cookware. Find used restaurant equipment on eBay or by searching for used equipment or going-out-of-business sales near you.
Download the full eGuide to read the remaining eight steps.
Copyright © 2024 SCORE Association, SCORE.org
Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.


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Amid crippling drought, California lawmakers pass $7.5 billion water plan; now heads to voters
California lawmakers on Wednesday voted to place a $7.5 billion water plan before voters in November, marking the largest water investment in decades for a state struggling with a historic drought.
The plan is designed to build reservoirs, clean up contaminated groundwater and promote water-treatment technologies, including desalination.
After weeks of difficult negotiations, the ballot measure sailed through both houses of the Legislature: 77-1 in the Assembly and 37-0 in the Senate.
The measure replaces an existing water bond that was approved by a previous Legislature but was widely considered too costly and too bloated with pork-barrel projects to win favor with voters.
The evening legislative votes came after Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers from both parties were finally able to clear their main hurdle, a disagreement about how much money should be spent on new reservoirs and other storage projects.


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Submitted by Dallas Kachan on
It's a $160 billion a year market you've probably never heard of.
Ethylene, the intermediary chemical compound from which popular plastics and many other high value products are derived, has traditionally been made in the petroleum industry via steam cracking, an energy- and carbon-intensive process. It's the most produced organic compound in the world; annual global production is in the hundreds of millions of tons. To meet ever-increasing demand, production facilities are being added globally, particularly in the Persian Gulf and China.
The problem is, it's complicated and expensive to make ethylene. And, or course, petroleum reserves are waning.
For decades, chemical engineers have been pursuing cost effective ways to make this key industrial compound from other things. Now, a handful of companies think they're honing in on ways to make ethylene from the methane in natural gas with commercially viable processes.
If making ethylene from methane turns out to be possible at scale, it could be a watershed for the chemical and petroleum industries. Ethylene from methane could potentially be much less expensive, given that natural gas is one-fifth the price of oil. And its supply could be more sustainable, given the massive and growing size of natural gas reserves.
The methane conversion space is more crowded than one might expect. Kachan & Co. recently performed a consulting project for a client that uncovered and profiled 24 announced and stealth mode startups in this space, along with 19 blue chip companies and 6 universities and government labs. The project involved interviews with company and research personnel, a review of venture investment data, interviews with investors and trade organizations, an intellectual property patent search and a literature review that included media and scientific sources.
Here are some of the more interesting of the 24 small organizations we found at the forefront of methane-to-ethylene commercialization today:
Co. Name | HQ | Website | Type | Dev. Stage | Tech Description | Partners or Alliances | Investors |
Carbon Sciences | Santa Barbara, California | www.carbonsciences.com |
Public | Experimental phase | Reforming methane to syngas to fuel using advanced catalysts. | Emerging Fuels Technology (EFT) & University of Saskatchewan | N.A. |
Fertilizer Research Institute | Pulawy, Poland | www.ins.pulawy.pl | Polish national research lab | Unknown | Currently operating a pilot methane to ethylene facility based on oxidative coupling of methane (OCM). |
Governmental facility |
LanzaTech | Auckland, New Zealand |
www.lanzatech.co.nz |
Private | Prototyping, commercialization in 2013 |
Gas fermentation process that produces both fuels and high-value chemicals from low-cost resources such as steam-reformed methane. |
N.A. | Series A investment from an investor consortium led by Khosla Ventures; Series B financing led by Qiming Ventures. |
Quantiam Technologies |
Alberta, Canada | www.quantiam.com |
Private | Research & development | Working on a feasibility study on a novel catalyst for methane conversion. |
BASF, IRAP | BASF ($3M), Ursataur Capital Management ($3M), Small investors ($2.3M) |
Siluria Technologies | San Francisco, California | www.siluria.com | Private | Research & development | A "revolutionary approach combining the latest developments in nanomaterial science, biotechnology and chemical engineering." New type of oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) process. |
None disclosed | Wellcome Trust, Alloy Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Lux Capital, Presidio Ventures. $13.3M Series A. $20M Series B. |
Excerpt from private Kachan & Co. study of 24 methane to ethylene companies, October 2011
The companies we found worldwide pursing methane-to-ethylene arranged themselves into rough groupings by type:
- IP Provider: Develops IP related to methane-to-ethylene, does not go beyond IP phase
- Technology Provider: Developed a technology and a prototype, intend to license to other companies (e.g. Carbon Sciences)
- Application Provider: Developed a technology, and sells engineering services to build facilities (e.g. BCCK) or manufacture technology (e.g. Rentech)
- Technology Operator: Goes beyond the licensing and directly operates facilities (e.g. CompactGTL)
Global oil and gas majors have been working on the challenge of methane to ethylene for years themselves, with dozens of patents issued. But none have cracked the code of profitable commercial scale production.
Global oil majors and number of patents in converting methane to ethylene
Chevron | 80 |
Exxon Mobil | 72 |
Shell | 54 |
Nippon Oil | 14 |
Innospec | 10 |
Lubrizol | 9 |
Celanese | 7 |
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation | 5 |
Total Raffinage | 5 |
General Electric | 5 |
Honeywell | 3 |
Cosmo Oil | 3 |
Eni S.p.A. | 3 |
Source: IP Checkups, October 2011
High value chemicals like ethylene from natural gas would be even more compelling if the gas was derived from renewable, biological sources, and not from conventional reserves or fracking, as today. Small volumes of renewable methane are available today from anaerobic digestion and landfill gas. But large volumes are promised by a new wave of companies commercializing thermal gasification and other approaches to creating bio natural gas from wood waste and other widely available feedstocks (see the Kachan report The Bio Natural Gas Opportunity).
Complicated science aside, it won't be easy for companies to bring methane to ethylene innovations to scale. Ethylene and other high value chemicals today are an oligopoly, a market hard to crack. Any new process will likely need to be championed by one of today's 5 big suppliers as a partner to enter the market. Then there's the culture clash between small, fast-moving venture backed companies seeking quick exists and the notoriously slow, conservative petroleum and chemical industries.
But those challenges are likely surmountable, according to the bets that are being made by name brand cleantech venture backers of the companies in this space.
A former managing director of the Cleantech Group, Dallas Kachan is now managing partner of Kachan & Co., a cleantech research and advisory firm that does business worldwide from San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. Kachan & Co. staff have been covering, publishing about and helping propel clean technology since 2006. Kachan & Co. offers cleantech research reports, consulting and other services that help accelerate its clients' success in clean technology. Details at www.kachan.com.


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We Believe in Change
4 Things You Might Want to Know About Senior Pet Adoption
- Housebreaking: A puppy or kitten can require constant attention. A puppy can hold his bladder just one hour for every month they've been alive. For instance, a 3-month-old puppy will need to empty his bladder every three hours! And yes, that does include the middle of the night! An adult dog's bladder is already fully developed. Shelter dogs are most often already house-trained and rescue groups make sure their adult dogs for adoption are housebroken before they go to new homes. You also have the advantage of knowing that your dog is physically able to "hold it" for several hours at a stretch. In most cases, adult dogs are by far easier to housebreak than puppies. You can teach an old dog new tricks! Many Senior Pets in shelters or with rescue groups are already trained and ready to go! Adults have a much longer attention span than puppies, too, which means they're easier and faster to teach. Adult dogs already have recognizable personality traits, so you'll be able to select one who is great with children. Many rescue groups use foster homes to make sure each dog for adoption is trained to be well- behaved indoors.
- Personality: With an adult pet, what you see is what you get. Their personality is already developed, and you'll be able to spot the characteristics you're looking for. Shelters and rescue groups are able to assess the personality of each pet for adoption and carefully match you up with the right dog or cat for your lifestyle.
- Senior Pet adoption = an instant friend for life: Ask anybody who has adopted an adult dog or cat, and they'll swear their bond with their rescued pal is as deep as they come. When you open your heart and your home to an older dog or cat who needs help, they really do show their appreciation for the rest of their life! Pets who have been uprooted from their homes, or have had difficult beginnings are likely to bond completely and deeply with their new human caretakers who they view as heroes. Pets who find themselves in the shelter or at a rescue group because of a death or other tragedy in their former human family usually go through a mourning period. Once they are adopted, however, they usually want nothing more than to please their new hero—YOU! No matter what circumstances brought them to the shelter or rescue group, most older pets for adoption are exceptionally affectionate and attentive pets and extremely loyal companions. But first, you have to adopt one!
- Senior Pet adoption = truly saving a life: When you adopt a senior dog or cat, you are doing the ultimate good deed. Let's face it: a lot of people think they want a puppy or kitten, but not everyone is lining up to adopt the great seniors! Did you know that every year, approximately 4 million adoptable animals are killed? You can be sure there are a LOT of dogs and cats for adoption out there. With such a huge overpopulation problem, buying a pet from a breeder or pet store sadly contributes to this tragedy. Rescue groups that specialize in Senior Pet adoption work very, very hard to help adult dogs and cats find good homes. Rescues are almost always made up of a group of volunteers. They often keep their pets for adoption in their own homes while they assess their health and personalities. If a pet needs basic training, often the rescuer will provide it. If a pet needs medical treatment, many dedicated dog and cat rescuers pay for it out of their own pocket. These people are incredibly passionate about rescue, and they work tirelessly to make sure every pet finds a home. Nothing is as rewarding to these heroes as a successful adoption!


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Nuclear logics contrasting paths in East Asia and the Middle East /
Saved in:
Author / Creator: | |
Format: | Electronic eBook |
Language: | English |
Imprint: | Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2007. |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | Available in Books at JSTOR: Evidence-Based Acquisition. Available in ProQuest Ebook Central - Academic Complete. |
Summary: | <p> "Nuclear Logics" examines why some states seek nuclear weapons while others renounce them. Looking closely at nine cases in East Asia and the Middle East, Etel Solingen finds two distinct regional patterns. In East Asia, the norm since the late 1960s has been to forswear nuclear weapons, and North Korea, which makes no secret of its nuclear ambitions, is the anomaly. In the Middle East the opposite is the case, with Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Libya suspected of pursuing nuclear-weapons capabilities, with Egypt as the anomaly in recent decades. <p> Identifying the domestic conditions underlying these divergent paths, Solingen argues that there are clear differences between states whose leaders advocate integration in the global economy and those that reject it. Among the former are countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, whose leaders have had stronger incentives to avoid the political, economic, and other costs of acquiring nuclear weapons. The latter, as in most cases in the Middle East, have had stronger incentives to exploit nuclear weapons as tools in nationalist platforms geared to helping their leaders survive in power. Solingen complements her bold argument with other logics explaining nuclear behavior, including security dilemmas, international norms and institutions, and the role of democracy and authoritarianism. Her account charts the most important frontier in understanding nuclear proliferation: grasping the relationship between internal and external political survival. "Nuclear Logics" is a pioneering book that is certain to provide an invaluable resource for researchers, teachers, and practitioners while reframing the policy debate surrounding nonproliferation. |
Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. [351]-383) and index. |
ISBN: | 9781282086746 (online) 9781400828029 (online) |


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Welcome to Merryweather Inn
Contact Us
How to Find Us
Username or Email Address
Remember Me
We are excited to have you stay with us!
Full payment to be received prior to arrival. Payment refundable up to 30 days prior to reservation for $200 cancellation fee. After 30 days, reservation may be changed, but not cancelled, for a $200 fee. Things happen! We are happy to make a date change to your reservation at no charge! After you select to change the date, the payment is nonrefundable.
Reservations made within 30 days of stay require at least 7 days notice to cancel and a 50% cancellation fee. Cancellations within 7 days are nonrefundable.
We are following recommendations from the CDC and health department to make sure your stay is safe.
Let us know what else we can do to make your stay more magical!


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If you couldn't tell by that cheesy smile, we are really enjoying our newest creation over here. Talk about hours of entertainment! As a former teacher, I love any kind of play that is educational. With this board, you can work on learning about letters, numbers, animals, or really anything! Win for Charlie, win for Mom.
Inspiration for a magnet board for our playroom first struck when I saw this clever drip-pan idea on Pinterest. I loved the idea, but I wanted something that would hold up a little better and look nicer on our wall. I also didn't love that most drip pans have the words "DRIP PAN" in large letters across the side. So I started looking for other options and found out that sheet metal can be purchased pre-cut in the convenient size of 24" x 36". What is fantastic about this size is that it's a very common picture frame size as well.
This was a crazy cheap project too! I only spent $10 on the sheet metal and $20 on a poster frame at Walmart. The frame was originally black, so I did add another step of painting it white so that it would look nicer in our playroom.
Oh, I love a good, cheap instant gratification project. Here is how I did it.
I purchased this sheet metal at Home Depot for only $9.75. I used the online ordering option, but when I went to pick it up at the counter, the sheet they had picked out for me had a tiny ding on it. I opted to trade it out and pick one that looked nicer in my opinion. The sheet metal comes in this nice cardboard packaging, but the sides are a little bit sharp when you take it out. You'll want to be careful not to cut yourself when you're working with the sheet metal.
I also bought a 24" x 36" poster frame at Walmart. You can save money if you find a frame that does NOT have glass in it. The one I bought had a plastic film attached to the frame. I was able to remove it easily, and painted my frame with a few coats of glossy white spray paint before I put the sheet metal in it.
Then, I laid the empty, painted frame face down, and put the sheet metal in it just like you would frame a picture. Don't worry if it doesn't go in just perfectly at first. It took a little manipulation to get some parts of the metal past the picture fasteners in the back.
You can see here that the metal isn't all the way in the frame yet. I had to go from the other side to sort of "bend" (but not actually bend) the sheet metal to get it past the metal fasteners along the sides. It's a really forgiving material and doesn't dent very easily, so don't worry if you have to do this too.
Once the metal sat flush to the frame, I just needed to put the original backing back on to the frame. In my case, this was just a piece of cardboard that came with the poster frame.
Once the frame was all put together, I just had to figure out how to hang it.
My go-to hanging devices are these Command Picture Hanging Strips. When you use them on all four corners, it is very secure to the wall (perfect for not so gentle toddlers) and very EASY!
The issue I ran into here was that my frame had a raised border that made it difficult to hang with the strips. My solution was to use this Scotch Exterior Mounting tape underneath the Command Strips to give them a little more height. I used two layers of Scotch mounting tape and one Command Strip per corner.
Next was peeling the paper backing off the Command strips and using my picture level to hang the board in our playroom!
Now the fun part! Get out your magnets (we used jumbo letter magnets and animal magnets) and watch your toddler delight in sticking and un-sticking them over and over again.
This board is such a fun addition to our playroom. I've had way too much fun decorating and furnishing this room for my little guy. We spend the better part of most days in this room, so it helps to have a fun space!
Did I mention that you can write on the board using Expo Markers? I love this for when Charlie is older and interested in spelling out words. I also think a board like this would be great for displaying kids' artwork or maybe a board to put in an office to stick reminders on. There are SO many possibilities!
Hope you enjoyed this idea! Thank you for stopping by!


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During Monday's Republican Presidential Debate, Representative Michelle Bachmann announced her candidacy for President and was quickly declared the night's winner—and a frontrunner for the GOP nomination—by conservative pundits and conservative members of Congress.
Yet The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel argued on The Ed Show last night that the media has focused too much on Bachmann's self-styled image and not enough on the far-right policy positions and neo-McCarthy politics she has embraced as a member of Congress. Bachmann's rise makes it increasingly likely that Republicans will continue to move to the right and pursue their pro-corporate, anti-middle class agenda into the 2012 election.
—Kevin Donohoe


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A Perfect Introduction to the World of Vietnamese Recipes and Cuisines |
www.Vietnamese-Recipes.com |
Famous for its lively, fresh flavors and artfully composed meals, Vietnamese food and cooking is the true 'light cuisine' of Asia. Abundant fresh herbs and greens, delicate soups and stir-fries, and well-seasoned grilled foods served on, or with, rice or noodles are the mainstays of the Vietnamese delicacies. Even the beloved sweets for snacks or desserts are often based on fresh fruits served with sweetened rice or tapioca. Rarely does any dish have added fats.While the Vietnamese cuisine relies on fresh vegetables, subtle seasonings and rice, Vietnamese cooking also reflects its Chinese and French influences and it has numerous regional difference; in the south, look for plentiful fresh seafood and in the colder north, you'll find slightly heartier meals with beef. In central Vietnam, around the ancient royal capital Hue, the food may contain influences of the former court cooks.But regardless of the region, home-style Vietnamese cooking calls for an array of simple dishes that make complementary partners at a family's communal meal. Dinners customarily call for a soup, probably a platter of leafy greens accompanied by rice papers and a dipping sauce, seafood or grilled meats or poultry, a vegetable stir-fry, and rice or noodles in some form - with hot tea as the preferred beverage. While such meals may look complex to outsiders, most dishes come together easily, and some call for advance preparation to avoid last-minute conflicts. And, as in any type of cooking, planning ahead makes putting together meals much easier.Modern cooks with well-equipped kitchens and handy appliances will find preparing a Vietnamese meal both rewarding and relatively easy. And with the widespread popularity of Asian recipes and foods, locating ingredients is not a challenge as most supermarkets carry such basics as fresh ginger and spring onions, lemongrass and chilies, even coconut milk and Asian noodles.
* Recipe For The Month * |
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Excerpt from a Charles Murray essay, "Why Capitalism Has an Image Problem":
The U.S. was created to foster human flourishing. The means to that end was the exercise of liberty in the pursuit of happiness. Capitalism is the economic expression of liberty. The pursuit of happiness, with happiness defined in the classic sense of justified and lasting satisfaction with life as a whole, depends on economic liberty every bit as much as it depends on other kinds of freedom.. . . What government can do to help is establish the rule of law so that informed and voluntary trades can take place. More formally, government can vigorously enforce laws against the use of force, fraud and criminal collusion, and use tort law to hold people liable for harm they cause others.
Everything else the government does inherently restricts economic freedom to act in pursuit of earned success. . . Every intervention that erects barriers to starting a business, makes it expensive to hire or fire employees, restricts entry into vocations, prescribes work conditions and facilities, or confiscates profits interferes with economic liberty and usually makes it more difficult for both employers and employees to earn success.. . . .(P)eople with a wide range of political views can acknowledge that what has happened incrementally over the past half-century has led to a labyrinthine regulatory system, irrational liability law and a corrupt tax code.
Michigan legislators have done their share. According to MichiganVotes.org:
513 bills introduced by Michigan legislators since 2001 to impose, expand or revise occupational licensure mandates that prohibit earning a living in a trade without permission from the government.
649 bills introduced by Michigan legislators since 2001 to impose, expand or revise "consumer protection" regulations on private enterprises.
213 bills introduced by Michigan legislators since 2001 to expand or revise environmental regulations, in which the word "impose" is contained in the MichiganVotes.org description of the bill. (A total of 1,191 bills have been introduced in the site's "environment" category.)
717 bills introduced by Michigan legislators since 2001 to impose, expand or revise business regulations, where the MichiganVotes.org description contains the word "require."
950 bills introduced by Michigan legislators since 2001 in the "economic development" category, almost all of which expand crony capitalism by doling out discriminatory tax breaks, subsidies and corporate welfare to particular business owners, developers or politically favored industries.
27,935 new laws proposed by Michigan legislators since 2001.
5,119 new laws actually enacted by Michigan legislators since 2001.
Not every one of these bills has added to "a labyrinthine regulatory system, irrational liability law and a corrupt tax code." A tiny minority actually tried to lessen these things. But by far the vast majority would have or did make them worse, regardless of the good intentions behind almost every one of them.
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An important part of Boston is in flux—good flux. It will be interesting to see how the details work themselves out.
You have probably known the district as Downtown Crossing ever since it got a little seedy, the Washington Street subway station changed its name, Jordan Marsh became Macy's, and Filene's and the basement moved completely out. Although the area has been one of the safest in the city, some people perceived it as menacing, citing the kids who maybe should have been in school instead of hanging out.
Then, of course, came the notorious hole in the ground at Filene's, and it looked like a sorry mess, even though good things were happening around the edges.
Since the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District came into being in 2010, there's been a shift, starting with the name. Downtown Crossing is what the busiest T station in the MBTA system is called. Has it now come to mean only the intersection at Winter, Summer and Washington streets? A couple of blocks out from there you'll encounter the Ladder District, the Theatre District, and the edges of the Financial District, Government Center, and Chinatown—all parts of "downtown." Maybe in the future, if John Henry makes a move, the old "Newspaper Row" will join the others.
There's been a shift too in its appeal. In a city like ours, where the land in Boston Proper has long been taken up, and historic districts prevent replacing shorter buildings with taller ones, it was probably natural that housing developers would find their way to a languishing area that abuts the Common. About 6,000 people currently live in the census tract that closely corresponds to the BID, said Doug Meyer, membership services and database manager for the BID. Only a few years ago, that number was in the hundreds.
Emerson and Suffolk have made a difference in the vitality of the area, both bringing in people and fixing up old buildings. Interestingly, the area has attracted a host of tech start-ups put off by the high prices in Kendall Square and the Seaport District, said Meyer.
Both independent and chain restaurants have opened and so have new retail shops. About 20 such new businesses a year have established themselves since 2011. Establishing a BID enabled merchants to get help with cleaning, welcoming people, removing snow, and keeping a watchful eye on the area.
There's more to come. Roche Bros. is planning to open a grocery store, probably by the end of this year, on two levels in the old Filene's building. A Chicago real estate investment firm is renovating and plans to open 59 Temple Place, aka 505 Washington Street, as a 238-room Godfrey Hotel in late spring, 2015, said George Jordan, a senior vice president at Oxford Hotels and Resorts. Like the Temple Street building and the old Filene's, many of the district's buildings are decorative and, frankly, gorgeous. And the Millennium Tower construction workers are purposefully chugging along with an opening scheduled for 2016. The old Filene's building will be ready for occupancy by this September, said Anthony Pangaro of Millennium Partners.
Challenges still exist. The new housing is expensive and most buildings, but not all, lack room for families. Lafayette Place, that misguided 1980s project, is due for another tweak, and we hope this is more successful than the last one. A few landlords seem hopeless, leaving buildings vacant and unkempt. The bi-level subway station could be a wonderful shopping mall if it were spiffed up, lit better, and lined with shops. Wouldn't that be a good investment for the T?
But the area is going in the right direction, which is good news for everyone who lives or works in Boston Proper. It's within walking distance of all the downtown neighborhoods.
Many people are responsible for the district's resurgence, but two people come to mind as persevering and persuasive. Rosemarie Sansone has led the Downtown Crossing Partnership as it morphed into the Downtown Boston BID, and John Rattigan of the DLA Piper law firm has been the group's long-time chairman. I'd have to also give Millennium Partners credit for jumping in with several big, transforming projects when it was not clear what the future might hold.
By this time next year, we'll see many more changes in this district. I wonder what they'll do about the name.


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is sifting through the photos and commentary on its blossoming social network so its Internet search results can include more personal information.
The additional personal touches that began to roll out Tuesday mark another step toward one of Google's most ambitious goals. The Internet search leader eventually hopes to know enough about each of its users so it can tailor its results to fit the unique interests of each person looking for something.
Different people should start seeing different search results more frequently now that Google Inc. is importing content from its 6-month-old Plus service, a product that the company introduced in an attempt to counter the popularity of Facebook's online hangout and Twitter's short-messaging hub. Google's main search results page also will start highlighting more content from an older online photo service called Picasa.
Other features will recommend additional people and companies to follow on Plus, based on their search requests. Those suggestions will exclude publicly accessible information about accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
The preferential treatment for Plus might amplify concerns about the objectivity of Google's search results —a focal point of broad regulatory investigations in the U.S. and Europe.
The Federal Trade Commission, attorneys general in six states, and the European Commission are looking into complaints alleging Google has been unfairly exploiting its dominance in Internet search to promote its other services while ignoring or downplaying pertinent information about its rivals.
The exclusive Plus recommendations in Google's search results are "exactly the kind of thing that the antitrust people are screaming about," said Danny Sullivan, an industry expert who has been following Google since the 1990s and is now editor of SearchEngineLand.com. "This is very un-Google like. It's unfair to other services and it's unfair to people."
Sullivan's criticism is especially striking because he has generally defended other search features that highlight Google's own services.
Twitter said it's worried the added emphasis on Plus in Google's search results will make it more difficult to find breaking news and other compelling information shared within the 250 million messages, or tweets, posted on its service each day.
"We think that's bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users," Twitter said in a statement.
Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google says its efforts to reel in more information from other sharing services are frequently thwarted by the providers. For instance, Twitter puts explicit instructions in its computer computing telling Google not to index the material, according to Google.
"Ushering in the new era of social and private data search will take close cooperation, and we hope other sites participate so we can provide the best possible experience for our users," Google said in a statement issued after it was asked about its added emphasis on Plus in its search results.
Facebook and Twitter pose a threat to Google because they don't allow Google's search engine to log most of the photos, links and observations cascading through those services. That's troublesome to Google because its search engine could become less useful if its system can't analyze what people are signaling is important to them so those preferences can be factored into the results.
Twitter once gave Google better access to the tweets flowing through its service as part of a 2009 licensing agreement, but that deal expired last summer. Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine is still paying to mine into Twitter's service.
Facebook has long cooperated with Bing, partly because Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in the company in 2007. At the same time, Facebook has steadfastly resisted Google's attempts to peer deeper into its social network.
That's one of the reasons Google started Plus, which is now hatching "Search, plus Your World."
The feature will be automatically turned on for all English-language searches made by users logged into Google. Turning off the personal results permanently will require changing a setting in Google's personal preferences. The personal results can also be excluded on a search-by-search basis by clicking on an icon of the globe on the results page (the personal results will be denoted by a button featuring a human's silhouette).
If the new formula works as Google expects, the search results will include pertinent information culled from the requestor's Plus account. For instance, a query about the San Francisco 49ers might include links and comments made about the football team by other people in one of the social circles on the user's Plus account. A search request that includes the name of a dog owned by the user or a friend might turn up photos of the pet that have been posted on Plus and Picasa.
"This is going to open up a whole new avenue in search," said Ben Gomes, a Google fellow.
Google isn't the first to do this. Bing has been mining some of the preferences and other information shared on Facebook since May. But Google's emphasis on more personal results figures to attract more attention because its search engine is so dominant. It handles about two-thirds of the Internet search requests made in the U.S. while Bing processes less than one-third, including the activity that it comes through a partnership with Yahoo Inc.
Facebook, though, has greater insights into personal tastes. That's because its nearly 8-year-old social network boasts more than 800 million users who share more than 1.5 billion photos alone each week. In October, Google said Plus had more than 40 million users. Google hasn't updated the information since then, although some external studies have estimated Plus began the new year with 60 million to 70 million users.
The search changes Some of Google's changes may help prod more people into joining Plus.
As part of Tuesday's expansion, the profile pictures of Plus accountholders will appear in the drop-down suggestions on Google's search box. So when typing in "Mary," you may see those named Mary in your circle along with those Google believes you'd find interesting.
Searches on general topics such as "music" and "sports," will generate suggestions on people and companies that have Plus accounts. Sullivan considers this be unfair because some people might not have Plus accounts, or share more interesting information on their Twitter page.
While Google is hoping the addition of more personal results will make its search engine even more useful, the changes also could spook some people as they realize how much information is being compiled about them. Google tried to minimize privacy concerns by recently switching to technology that encrypts all its search results to protect the information from slipping out.
Previous privacy missteps by both Google and Facebook resulted in both companies entering into settlements with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC agreements require Google and Facebook to submit to external audits of their privacy practices every other year.


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The Simpsons Writers Pick Their Ten Favorite Obscure Characters
According to the Simpsons Wikia, after 23 seasons there are now 1,612 characters in The Simpsons' universe, from major to minor to celebrities just passing through for a voice cameo. When citing or quoting the show's most memorable supporting figures, most fans tend to dwell on such iconic recurring Springfieldians as Comic Book Guy and Lenny and/or Carl, who have strutted (or, in the case of Disco Stu, danced) through the town on multiple occasions. But this gives short shrift to the more fleeting figures, those quick cameos who may have only been seen in one episode or even had just one line, but still made an impression on the show's obsessive fans. These are your Screamapillars, your Sideshow Raheems, your Khlav Kalash vendors. Viewers' favorites will vary, but we decided to go to the current Simpsons writers room' and ask them to confer and come up with their favorite obscure characters from the show's history. Here are their ten picks. (Sorry, Elf Dwarf fans: He didn't make the cut.)


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Jean Marie "Mary" Goris was born on 23 April 1926 in Bingham Canyon, Utah to William and Jean (Bennie) Goris.
She married James Richard "Dick" Kern on 5 November 1951 in Reno, Nevada. He was my father's half-brother.
They moved to Toledo, and later, Sylvania Ohio where they raised four children: Dorothy Jean, Kathleen, Craig and Timothy.
Aunt Mary died on 27 November 2012 and will join her husband and son Craig in heaven.
April 1953 - Bill Watkins, Mary Kern, Don Vail and Ruth Ormsby (spouses of Kern/Ormsby siblings)
April 1953 - Mary & Dick Kern, Vic Ormsby, Ruth Ormsby
Most of my memories of Aunt Mary make me feel warm and cozy. She was a gracious hostess, and it was a tradition on Christmas Day to have dinner at her house. In addition to her children (and later her grandchildren), and my immediate family, who would go every year, there were always other cousins, friends, and neighbors around the table. Mary would open her doors to whoever wanted to stopy by - for appetizers, dinner, dessert, or just to visit.
Christmas 1967 - Don Ormsby, Shirley Kern, Mary & Dick Kern
Christmas dinner was something of a tradition as well. Aunt Mary made the best lamb roast I have ever tasted - and have never been able to duplicate. Another favorite dish was "Greek Macaroni" - noodles with butter and cheese. This has become a tradition in my family as well - I taught my daughter Donna how to make it last Christmas, and am planning to have it on my table again this year.
Christmas 1985 - Uncle Dick and Aunt Mary
Dick and Mary spent a lot of time at their lake house on Cub Lake in Michigan. Again, anyone who stopped by was welcomed with open arms. Dick would entertain guests on his pontoon boat and Mary would be sure they were well fed before they returned to their homes.
July 2011 - Shirley Kern, Wimp Hill, Ruth Ormsby and Mary Kern
One of Mary's hobbies was painting. She liked to paint landscapes - mostly for relaxation, I think. I am honored to have one of her paintings hanging in my bedroom.
1968 painting by Jean Marie "Mary" Goris Kern


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By Lateef Mungin
(CNN) — Take a good look at this woman.
She may be able to answer a question that's been vexing Chicago officials: Who left a tiny, little alligator at the O'Hare International Airport? And why?
The toothy reptile caused quite a stir and made headlines around the country when it was found at the airport November 1.
Security guard Tineka Walker was on patrol at Terminal 3 that day when a passenger alerted her to a gator squirreling around under an escalator.
"I looked, I said, 'What?'" Walker told CNN affiliate WBBM. "They probably realized they couldn't take it through the checkpoint, and just let him go, but, oh my God!"
Walker radioed police for backup. The creature was only about 18 inches long. An airport worker used a broom and dustpan to capture it.
The gator garnered quite a response. The incident was reported in publications from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., all asking the same question: what was a reptile doing at an airport?
The Chicago Transit Authority and police devised a plan to find out.
Transit officials said they used a photo posted on social media that showed a woman holding a small alligator on one of its train on November 1 to help jumpstart their investigation.
They scoured images from the system's 3,600 cameras and was able to track the woman's trip. At 1:17 a.m., cameras captured the woman on a train holding the alligator and showing it to passengers, transit officials say.
An hour later, the same woman was seen leaving the train at an airport station. About 30 minutes later, the woman was captured at "the turnstiles of the O'Hare rail station, this time without the reptile in view," transit officials said.
Now, transit official have a message for the woman.
"Those responsible for this act can face a misdemeanor charge of cruel treatment of an animal or face a fine $300 to $1,000 for cruelty to animals for abandoning the animal in a public place," they said.
As for the alligator, don't expect a reunion any time soon.
It was handed over to the Chicago Herpetological Society and was destined for a new life at a luxurious reptile park.
CNN's Alan Duke contributed to this report.
™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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Scaling Sales: From Craft to Machine
I've been thinking a lot lately about scaling sales.
In every start-up, finding initial product-market fit is a magical moment. Before this occurs, the sales process is a craft or an art - custom-made by the founder or evangelist sales VP. You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly.
But once you achieve initial product-market fit and are down the Sales Learning Curve, suddenly you are faced with a new challenge: how do I scale up the sales efforts? How do I build a repeatable, scalable sales process that is like an industrial machine - not a crafts project?
Across our portfolio and in my own entrepreneurial experience, I have seen three main sales models work successfully in scaling B2B sales: 1) Enterprise; 2) Telephone; and 3) Developer-driven. B2C sales and customer acquisition efforts are a different matter (and one I'll perhaps address in a future blog), but for B2B, those three models are the most common pattern. I'll discuss each one below.
1) Enterprise Sales
The enterprise sales model is a pretty simple one and was the predominant model ten to twenty years ago in the IT industry. If you want to scale sales, you hire more sales reps. Find a new sales rep with industry experience, a rolodex and a strong track record. You assign an annual quota to each rep, train them, feed them some sales tools and assign them a sales engineer (particularly for more technically complex products) and coach them along the way. After 3-6 months, they work their way down the learning curve, close their first deal and are off to the races.
The typical quota for a sales rep varies by type of business model (SaaS vs. perpetual), product gross margin (e.g., 80-90% software products vs. 40-50% advertising products) and company maturity (e.g., a "jungle" stage company would have a lower quota than a "highway" company). Typically you want to see a 3x ratio between the contribution margin per rep (factoring in the lifetime value of the customer, or LTV) and the cost per rep to acquire that customer, fully loaded (i.e., customer acquisition cost or CAC).
For example if you have a 90% gross margin SaaS software product and assign a $1.1M in quota for a rep (i.e., $1m in contribution margin) that makes $250K at target and assume another $50k in benefits and travel costs and $30k in marketing and support costs for a total of $330K, then you have a 3x LTV:CAC ratio in year 1. Another rule of thumb for SaaS companies, some focus on "the Magic Number", which is the ratio of new sales to sales and marketing expenses.
If the customer is a recurring customer, then they are more valuable and a lower quota might be tolerated, although a separate group of account reps are often accountable and paid commissions for the renewal revenue. If the marketing support is greater and the product is more mature, than a higher quota might be assigned. In my former company, Open Market, we had rising quotas each year as we got more mature, from (if memory serves me) $1.1M to $1.3M to $1.5M to $1.7M to, finally, $2M in annual quota. Advertising sales reps, with a 40-50% gross margin, might have $3-5M in annual quota.
Although it is an excellent fit for complex enterprise-class solution selling, many people think classic enterprise sales, as a standalone go to market model, is broken. When you analyze it carefully, unless you can support large quotas due to very large deal sizes, it can simply be too expensive to hire senior sales representatives, distribute them around the country, set up offices and support them. Many are therefore proponents of a sales model that relies more on telephone-based selling, as described below.
2. Telephone Sales
The telephone sales model is based on a group of lower-paid, typically younger sales representatives that sit in cubicles next to each other and grind out call after call. To implement this sales model effectively, there needs to be a tight coordination between sales and marketing to generate qualified leads and to feed these leads to the sales organization. There also needs to be a large target universe of potential customers to justify the volume of calls - the model simply doesn't work if your target market pool is in the hundreds or even thousands.
Sales reps in this model may be closers or simply openers who qualify leads carefully and then hand them off to the closers (in this scenario, the telephone-based representatives are often called business or sales development representatives -- BDRs or SDRs). Many organizations will have two separate groups - a group of SDRs that are nurturing leads and conducting product demonstrations and a group of telesales reps who are closers. It is not uncommon for the SDRs to be right out of college or, at most, have only 2-4 years of experience and be earning base salaries as low as $30-40K. Their quotas may be as low as $400-500K, but their salary at target might be only $80-100K. With no travel budget and no field offices, the numbers pencil out nicely. The telesales team can also be a nice training ground for enterprise sales reps - a path that can be cheaper and less risky than hiring someone externally.
Generating a high volume of leads for the telephone sales rep is the key to making this model work. It is all about (highly qualified) leads, leads, leads. Leads may be through inbound marketing techniques (such as webinars, blogging, white papers or other forms of content marketing) or outbound marketing techniques ("smile and dial" against a list of prospects). The Hubspot folks (who are terrific in this area) estimate that each SDR in their mid-market group needs 150 leads per month to be productive and busy while for the small business team, they target feeding 2000 leads per sales rep per month. This is an appropriate number to figure out and model to help guide whether you need to ramp up marketing (demand generation) or sales (closing) as you scale.
To that point, a well-run telesales operation will be super metrics-driven. You can measure EVERYTHING - how many calls per day per rep, how many connects per call, how many positive conversations that lead to follow-up, how many demonstrations, how many proposals, etc. These measurements help with the "machine-building" process as you can more predictably assess how you are doing at any given time and where you need to focus your resources - more leads, more SDRs, more closers, etc. The best sales VPs of telesales operations are more like accountants than charismatic salespeople. If you hire a charismatic leader as your head of sales, make sure you hire a director of sales operations to support them. I never fully appreciated the value of this role until I saw it in action myself at Open Market where the director of sales operations managed all the numbers and operational details, freeing up the charismatic sales VP to hire, lead and close the big deals.
Alignment between sales and marketing is critical in any sales model, but under the telesales model it is even more critical. Organizationally, SDRs may even work under the marketing organization while the closers work for sales. Whatever the organizational configuration, the definition of a lead, clarity on the quantity of leads being targeted, and alignment on the quality of a lead required before handing off from marketing to sales are all key elements to work through. Marketing automation platforms are particularly helpful here so that you can track someone from website visit all the way down the funnel through close.
Again, there are many who believe even the telesales model is flawed and outdated. Hiring armies of young, inexperienced professionals and training them to become sales reps and operate in a "boiler room" style environment can be expensive. To achieve friction-free revenue (and who doesn't want friction-free revenue?), a third sales model has emerged which I'll call "Developer Driven".
3) Developer Driven Sales
My partner, Chip Hazard, wrote a terrific blog post on the power of developer-driven adoption, something we have seen play out very successfully at a few of our portfolio companies, but most notably 10gen (maker of MongoDB). As Chip points out, if you can architect your product as a platform (build APIs that are accessible to 3rd party developers) and get bottoms-up adoption from the development community, you can drive adoption without investing heavily in sales. Chip's examples are mainly from technical products (his main area of expertise), but this approach can be employed for any product where customers can trial, see value quickly and begin adoption without taxing your sales resources.
To do this effectively, you often need to employ a freemium business model - making it easy for a developer or customer to try your product for free, get set up and quickly self provision (ideally within 5 minutes) without ever speaking to anyone at the company. This provides the ultimate inbound marketing model - customers contact you when they have tried your product and are convinced it provides them with value. Once value is established and the product usage ramps up, you can hear the cash register ringing.
Instead of hiring telesales people, you hire "Community Managers" who arrange hackathons and meetups, actively engage the community on the forums, and shares relevant content through various social channels. When things are really working well in a developer driven model, developers are embedding your platform in their products and each developer becomes a marketing agent for the company. In effect, your developer support team becomes your marketing team.
The magic in developing a go to market strategy is that there is no "one size fits all" approach. Many companies will design their sales and marketing machine as a blend of each of these approaches. Use a developer-driven model to drive trial and inbound activity. Telesales to close high-volume, smaller deals. And then enterprise sales for the select strategic deals with average sales price (ASP) > $100K.
Different phases of your business will see more emphasis on one area than another. For example, many companies embark on a freemium model initially, then depend on inbound upsell, later hire a telesales team to ramp up the upsell process by adding outbound activities, then hire an enterprise team to close the big deals. Dropbox is an example of a company that has followed this path with tremendous results.
The main point is that you need to be as strategic and thoughtful in designing your go to market model as you are in your product or company strategy. Only then can you evolve from a crafts model to a machine.
I include a chart below from a recent board presentaiton from my portfolio company, tracx (a SaaS social intelligence platform) that frames the multi-stage process in a particularly clear manner.
To read more on this topic, here are a few books / blogs I recommend:
- Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross
- The Science of Building a Scalable Sales Team by Mark Roberge, Hubspot CRO
- The Bridge Group's Blog on inside sales
- Building a Sales and Marketing Machine by David Skok
- Stanford B-School case on Jive Software by Mark Leslie and Mark Stevens


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Rumored 2014 Royal Rumble Winner & WWE Hall Of Fame Inductees
– WWE is already discussing possible inductees for the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame class. One big name that's been rumored all year is the Ultimate Warrior.
Warrior and WWE are currently on good terms, with Warrior being a part of the new WWE 2K14 video game and WWE CEO Vince McMahon personally welcoming Warrior back to the WWE Universe over the summer. Warrior and Vince met face to face in Los Angeles during SummerSlam weekend and we could see Warrior return to WWE TV next year for the first time since 1996.
DeGeneration-X is also being considered for a Hall of Fame induction. DX was rumored for last year's Hall of Fame class, but the decision was made to hold off on those plans after WWE locked in Bruno Sammartino.
– There has been a lot of talk within WWE about Daniel Bryan winning the 2014 Royal Rumble match.
* JIM ROSS Reveals If He'd Work For TNA If They Gave Him Total Control Of The Company
(Source: PWInsider.com)


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The Bloop galleries
I've been compiling photos other people have taken of The Bloop game and sonar goggle experiments I did at the Hide&Seek Weekender into some Flickr galleries.
The Bloop at the Weekender #1
The Bloop at the Weekender #2
Sonar Goggle Experiments at the Weekender
It's always good to see your events from the perspective of others and there are some really nice shots in there. Here are a selection of my favourites – click on them to go through to the source on Flickr.
Thanks again to everyone who took part – either as player or audience.


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Pee Wee's Tale
Written by Johanna Hurwitz
Illustrated by Patience Brewster
Reviewed by student in Mrs. McCue's 4th Grade Class
Pee Wee`s Tale.
Pee Wee`s Tale is about a guinea pig that goes on an adventure. Robbie Fischler owns him for only a couple of days until Robbie's father throws him out. He gets thrown out because Mrs. Fischler (Robbie's mother) doesn't like guinea pigs. "I can't relax. I even wake at night thinking of him crawling around. We'll just tell Robbie that he got out of the cage." Mr. Fischler puts Pee Wee in a park where he finds a squirrel friend named Lexi who tries to help Pee Wee find his way back home. In the park Pee Wee has many exciting things happen to him. For example, Lexi tries to teach him how to climb a tree. Another example is he reads to some squirreles and they like it. Pee Wee's main mission is to get home to Robbie. Do you think he finds his home? Read the book to find out.
My favorite part is when Pee Wee finds his friend Lexi. I like this part because Lexi helps him deal with his problem. Lexi reminds me of my mom because she helps me find stuff when I need it. This book is like Hugh Pine because Pee Wee is intelligent and so is Hugh Pine. Pee Wee changed because instead of being a house pet forever he lived out side too.
I recommend this to third graders and older that like adventures because this is an adventurous book. Younger children might like it if you read it aloud it to them. They might think a reading guinea pig humerous.